Steering Column Install - Tilt, Steer, Enjoy

While almost all new vehicles sold today have things like tilt wheel and power windows standard, the earlier musclecars were, for the most part, stripped down, especially the really high-performance versions. Case in point is a 1970 Z/28 Camaro we have been tinkering with. The car is pretty worn out, but at least it's complete. Heck, it still has the solid-lifter LT-1 under the hood and a 12-bolt Posi rearend, so it's a burnout machine right now. One area the car is lacking in is the creature comforts, like power windows and a tilt column.

In this story we will be adding a tilt column and new steering wheel. The column is ididit's brand-new addition to the company's Made To Fit line. It is made to bolt right into '70-75 Camaros and comes with everything needed for installation, like a vehicle-specific floor mount. The new column is a collapsible piece, so in the event of a front-end crash the steering wheel isn't going to come and punch you in the chest. The column is 100-percent American made, with all new parts and features an eight-position tilt, self-canceling turn signals, four-way flashers, GM top shaft, and GM-era specific wiring. The column is offered in paintable steel, chrome, or black powdercoat finishes.

One last thing to mention about this column is the way ididit changed up the ignition switch. Instead of a rod that is hooked to the lock cylinder that runs down to an external switch mounted to the column, it's a micro switch inside the column itself. The micro switch is supported by a few relays that bear the electrical load. Also, since there is no longer a rod running down the column, the ignition turns with very little resistance. These improvements extend the life of the switch and key mechanism.

While the new column is pretty cool, it's also pretty useless without a steering wheel mounted to it. Since the column has a GM top shaft, either a stock or aftermarket steering wheel can be used. Unfortunately, the factory '70 Camaro wheel is pretty unappealing to this author, and the wheel in the car at the time of our install was even worse.

We looked to Classic Industries for a new wheel. Classic had so many options in the catalog, we ended up going to the showroom just to look at them first-hand. What we didn't realize until talking with the guy behind the counter is how much research the company did to come up with these complete wheel packages.

Starting with a steering wheel, Classic Industries then figured out multiple horn buttons and adapters that allow you to tailor the wheel to your build. Look to the end of this story for a sidebar on the steering wheels.

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Steering Column Install - Tilt, Steer, Enjoy

Here is the black powdercoated, ididit Made To Fit, eight-position tilt steering column for the ’70-75 second-gen, floor-shift Camaros (part number 1620869951). The column is a true bolt-in piece and even has the proper 1-inch, 48-spline shaft so it will hook right up to the factory steering shaft in the engine compartment. The column is constructed out of all new parts and has a redesigned ignition switch setup that works off of a relay system. It comes with everything included for installation, like knobs, levers, wiring conversion for the new-style switch, and a new floor mount. One thing to note is this column does not have provisions for the OEM neutral safety switch or indicator, so an alternate method must be used.

1 Here is a close-up look at the new-style ignition switch housing and internals. Since this is constructed out of all new parts, the column should provide years of trouble-free service.

2 This is what was in the Camaro before we started: a non-tilt column with a dated steering wheel. While it did the basic job of steering the car, the turn signals didn’t cancel anymore, and there was a bit of slop on the upper bearing, so the wheel moved around, and not in a good way.

3 After popping the steering wheel, the lower dash piece is removed to gain access to the mounting hardware and wiring. This piece is held on by a few Phillips and 3/8-headed screws. There is no need to disconnect the heater controls; there is enough slop in the cables to set it out of the way.

4 The 3-7/8-inch wire plug is separated first. A small flat-tip screwdriver will help release the retaining clip on the plug.

5 The floor mount on the factory column is welded to it, so it has to be unbolted from the firewall so the column can come out.

6 The steering shaft was unbolted. It’s a good idea to pry open the clamp with a large prybar to make slipping it off the shaft easier.

7 Back inside the car, the under-dash hardware is removed with a 9/16 socket.

8 Now the column will drop down enough to access the ignition switch wiring. The switch has two plugs on it that lock into each other. The black one will need to be removed first; again, a small flat-tip will help unlatch the retaining clips. Now the column is pulled out of the car. The steering shaft will probably hang up a bit, so having a friend help pull it off while you pull out on the column will save some time and frustration.

9 Here is a side-by-side shot of the factory column and the ididit unit. They are exactly the same length, even though the ididit unit has a tilt mechanism. You can also see that the levers (installed earlier) and key switch are in the factory locations.

10 The dash mount bracket is swapped over to the ididit column, and held in place with the new hardware provided in the kit. Make sure to run the wiring between the bracket and the column tube as shown.

11 The last step in prepping the column on the bench is to tape up the lower portion to prevent it from being scratched, and to slip on the new floor-mount clamp. Holding it up high on the column with tape will keep it from falling down during installation.

12 The new floor mount and gasket are loosely installed to the firewall with the factory hardware.

13 The column is slipped back into the car. We’re not going to lie—getting the lower shaft attached while sliding this in was a bit of a pain. This is why we recommended you opening up the shaft clamp a bit with a prybar. We couldn’t get ours on until we did.

14 This is what we are talking about. We had to open up the clamp and the end of the shaft just to make it slip together easily. This allowed us to line up the notch in the column to the notch in the steering shaft much easier. Once we had this together, we loosely installed the dash-mount hardware to hold the column in place.

15 The ididit ignition switch is now relay-based, so some of the factory ignition switch wiring needs to be reconfigured. We had our local wiring guru Raymond “Lucky” Costa from Mobile Tech in Torrance, California, come by and give us a hand. He took one look at the very simple instructions ididit provided and got after it. Looking back, we could have tackled this job, but sometimes it’s nice to have a pro in the wings to walk you though the first time.

16 After popping the terminals free with a small screwdriver, he transferred them to the new plugs provided in the installation kit. All the new wires are color-coded to match the ones they hook to.

17 Once all the plugs were rewired they simply snapped together.

18 Since the column comes wired with a factory-style 3-7/8-inch plug, it just hooks right up. If you are putting this into a ’75-81 Camaro, you will need to wire in the supplied 4-1/4-inch plug.

19 With the column wired, we made sure it was in the proper position before tightening up the dash mount, floor mount, and clamp.

20 Now we could install our steering wheel. See the sidebar for more info on the wheels. The horn contact we rotated till the tang was at about the 10:30 position before slipping on the wheel. This will make sure the turn signals will cancel at the proper time. After that, we installed the horn wiring per the instructions and hooked it to the horn ring.

21 The horn ring gets screwed to the steering wheel and then the horn button is popped onto the horn ring.

22a With that, we articulated the tilt, which works butter-smooth, just to see how much throw it has...

22b ...We took these two shots to show the max up and max down movement. With eight positions available, you should be able to find just the right spot for you. The new ignition switch system will take a little getting used to, as the key turns with very little resistance but works flawlessly.

We looked to Classic Industries for a new steering wheel. What we didn’t know was how much thought Classic put into the wheel kit. Starting with the wheels themselves, Classic has multiple options when it comes to these 14-inch-diameter wheels, in just about every configuration and multiple leather color options. Shown are the three most popular (starting at the top and going clockwise): wood with black anodized center, chrome center with black leather grip, and brushed aluminum with black leather. These are offered as a kit that includes steering wheel, mounting hardware kit, mounting hub, and horn cap for right around 200 bucks.

We assembled a few horn buttons just to show you what it could look like, but just know that all of these are interchangeable. Here is the chrome wheel (PN 3012) with SS button (PN W5649) and six-bolt horn button ring (PN M0667).

And here is the wood wheel with black center (PN ST3027) and the ’65-66 Corvette button (PN CM5064)

Now for the horn button options. Classic figured out that any of Grants’ Signature Series horn buttons will work, when combined with the gray six-hole trim ring. The other options for a horn button come from the GM line; you can use the ’65-66 Corvette button shown on the bottom left, or the ’67-69 Comfort Grip Bow Tie button shown on the bottom right.

Classic also has two options when it comes to mounting hubs. The one on the left is actually an ididit piece, and the one on the right is a factory piece for the four-spoke Sport wheels found on some ’70-77 Oldsmobiles. As you can tell, the ididit unit is much taller and will position the wheel closer to you.

BEFORE So you can see the difference, here is a wheel with the ididit hub.

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